Tis a beautiful day for a baptism!!

Tis a beautiful day for a baptism!!
Before I tell you the rest of the story I feel I must start at the beginning. I pray that you bear with me, for I know that the ending will bless you.

I was raised in a Catholic family, which means that my parents had me baptized as an infant. When I became an adult I had a period of rebellion. This is not something that I am proud of but at any rate it happened. Through it all my parents never abandoned me and I can honestly say there were times I would have abandoned myself.

I lost my father 12 years ago next month, it was a deeply spiritual experience. At times some have thought me crazy when I have stated that being present for my fathers death was one of most beautiful experiences of my life. This was a turning point in my life. This was the beginning of me returning to the Lord.

Being an only child this left only my mother and myself.

The closer I felt the presence of the Lord, the more I realized that I needed to be baptized.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. - Mark 16:16 NIV

I told my mother that I was planning on being baptized on Easter morning in the Tampa Bay. This was something that had been on my heart for 6 months, it was something that I wanted to do on Easter morning. It was a symbol of my death and my birth in Christ.

In my excitement I did not even consider how she would react to my news. I had long ago left my Catholic roots as the Lord moved me in a new direction. Needless to say she was not happy about this new revelation. Why she asked did I think I needed to be baptized again? I had already been baptized, did I not think that what my parents had done for me was enough. There was no easy way around the issue. No I did not think it was enough. They had made the decision for me as a babe, but this was me making the decision saying to the Lord here I am. I accept your cleansing Blood.

Fast forward with me now, 10 years. As you can imagine a lot has changed. Mom moved up to Ohio almost 2 years ago now. In that time she has been going to church with us. I have been proud of her though the churches we attend are pretty far from her comfort zone. We have had some pretty in depth conversations about salvation, about scripture, about the Holy Spirit. She has been the recipient of my mini sermons, she has been my biggest fan the past year after I began blogging. I have seen such a change in her these past few years, it is suffice to say she has made me proud.

Today while at church there was an altar call, this was not going to be your run of the mill altar call. I had been in prayer where I was sitting when I felt the tap on my shoulder. It was my mother, she asked me if I would go forward with her to pray. When we got to the altar she asked me what she should do. I was a bit taken back, do? do about what? Seems my mother was not sure about her Salvation, she had always believed but her question rang out “am I saved.” I prayed with her, when I asked her do you believe that Jesus Christ is your Savior she answered yes. Have you confessed your sins and repented meaning turned from them. Yes. Have you asked Him into your heart. Yes. Tears are streaming down her face, I am not sure how I kept it together but I did. Finally I asked are you ready to be baptized in the name of Jesus. Yes.

Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. - Acts 19:4-5 NIV

Oh how sweet it is!!

Tis a beautiful day for a baptism!! Off we went the whole church in tow to witness this blessed event. My mother age 68 was giving her life to Jesus Christ, I cry telling the story.

There at the boat ramp of Jackson Lake is where it happened. My husband baptized my mother today in the name of Jesus. I was there on her other side praying. All present witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit for He met us there and was all around. It is something that I will never forget, I feel blessed to have been apart. I feel blessed to be able to tell the story.

I love you and I am proud of you mom, I am proud that you answered His call today.
God Bless!

How does one “get saved” anyway?

Contrary to what a multitude of Christians believe, a person does not get “saved” by attending church, participating in the choir, giving money when the offering plate is passed, volunteering at the ice cream social, being an usher, going on a mission trip to some distant country or any of a thousand other “good works”. However important these works are, they have nothing to do with salvation.

The Apostles Peter and Paul made it very clear in the Book of Acts and in their epistles that the basis for salvation was REPENTANCE. Unless a person is willing to change their heart from saving themselves to allowing Jesus Christ to be their Savior, there can be no genuine repentance. Unless a person is willing to lay down their pride and haughty self sufficiency at the feet of the Lord Jesus, there can be no eternal life given.

When it comes to salvation, there are more apparent ways to achieve it than there are groups which preach them. Everyone has a song and everyone has a doctrine as to what it takes to “get saved”. For many, the root of salvation is based on the confession of sins alone. Although this sounds good, true salvation must go a few steps further or it cannot be found.

Salvation is not limited to confessing one is a bad person who has done bad things. Salvation is built on the foundation of the understanding of who Jesus Christ was and what He did in his life through His suffering and death and what God did through Him by raising Him from the dead and ascending Him into heaven. Without the understanding of all Jesus Christ WAS, IS and IS TO BE, salvation will be elusive, shallow or quickly lost.

It is only when a person begins to understand everything Jesus did, the significance of His sinless life, loving ministry and of course His painful death that they can begin to grasp WHO Jesus Christ is and WHY that is important to them. Only after this instruction can a person honestly and from their heart be convicted of their sin and ACCEPT the forgiveness of Christ and receive the gift of the new birth.

Simply confessing one’s sin does not purchase a ticket to heaven. One must be CONVICTED of their sin, willingly decide to CHANGE and humbly ACCEPT the invitation of Jesus Christ to grant them remission of sins and the gift of eternal life. Simply put, the things needed to “get saved” are:

1. Receive instruction in who Jesus Christ was, is and is to be

2. Be convicted of one’s sin

3. Willingly decide to change

4. Accept the free gift of Jesus Christ and His mercy, grace and love

5. Receive the gift of salvation, eternal life and fellowship with God

Jesus Christ always stands at the door knocking, waiting for each person to open that door and let Him in to dine with them. Once a person understands who He is, and how much He loves them; only a fool would turn the Lord away and reject His invitation to wash their sins away and bless them with an eternity of perfect peace. May we always accept His invitations and bask in His promises now and forever more.